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With just 1 win, controversy over Ballard coach

Posted by Geeky Swedes on November 6th, 2008

Well, you knew this was coming. The Ballard Beavers varsity football team has ended the season with an embarrassing 1-8 record, outscored by their opponents by over 200 points. And the team’s first-year coach, John Bowers, is getting an earful from some frustrated parents.

The Ballard News-Tribune reports that some parents are criticizing Bowers for leaving talented players on the bench and being too hard on the team. The paper also quotes a player who says Bowers was “recruiting students in the hallways if they looked like they could play football” after some players quit the team. Meanwhile, the Huskies are 0-8, the Cougars are 1-8, the Seahawks are 2-6, the Mariners lost 100 games and the Sonics left town.

But as they say, there’s always next year.

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  • ding
    boo hoo little johnny doesn't get to play and coach was too mean.

    what a bunch of pansies we're raising.

    our HS football constantly was trying to recruit kids.
  • brent
    I guess they used "Season ends with a single win" for a headline because "Bozo Lineman Hit Too Many Times In The Head, Thinks 1-8 Team Actually Had A Chance Of Winning State" was too long.

    There are teams that run the same plays over and over again and win -- because the other teams know what's coming and still can't stop it.

    Face it, y'all just aren't very good.
  • Trey
    The Texas Tech (currently BCS #2) was recruited to the team after he kicked a 30-yard field goal at half time for a contest to win a year's worth of free rent.
  • Mike
    some parents are criticizing Bowers for leaving talented players on the bench and being too hard on the team

    Translation: Type-A helicopter parents thought their kid was some kind of superstar-in-training and should have been in on every play. And stop yelling at the kid, he's very sensitive and precocious!
  • MikeyG
    Have you ever noticed that the private schools are in one Metro league, and all the public schools are in the other?

    The Sound Div has four public teams, (which Ballard used to be a part of): Bainbridge, Chief Sealth, Rainier Beach and West Seattle.

    The Mountain is an all-private school division, with Bishop Blanchet, Eastside Catholic, Lakeside, O'Dea and Seattle Prep in boys' competition, and Holy Names on the girls' side.

    Why? And why do the private schools always win more?

    Because the private school's have more money? No, if fact the private schools spend less money per student than the public schools.

    Curious.
  • ding
    they recruit.
  • devin
    That's the excuse of every team that loses. Winning attracts competitors is more the case.

    Anybody that has ref'd or watched the private schools play and public schools play knows that discipline, commitment and community are a much bigger determinant of the private school's success.

    In fact, the reason the public schools are in a different division is political, so that at least one public school wins a division title each year. (The discrimination of low expectations by our public schools. Everyone gets a trophy!)

    In fact, most of those private high school families sent their kids to parochial grade schools, where they play CYO sports, and their parents got and stayed involved.

    Imagine that - parental involvement actually resulting in positive outcomes.
  • Zach
    If that's true about putting all the public schools in one group = Pathetic.

    If you read the article in the Ballard paper, you'll see the problem. A starting sophomore giving quotes to the paper, disrespecting his coach? Parents letting their kids quit mid-season? Juniors saying the coach ran the same play too many times?

    Has that kid ever seen O'Dea play? They run about 6 total offensive plays over and over. There's just more of them, in great shape, out-executing everyone else!

    Stop making excuses Ballard Parents! The coach may be a jerk, but there seem to be some big gap in the expectations for kids.

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